Waking up on Sunday was bittersweet, since it was our last day on the boat. We had the photo op first thing (well, not early, but it was the first thing we had planned), and unfortunately, so did everyone else on the entire boat, so it went really long. We only had half a photo group, so we decided to just get in where we fit in and not really worry about it. We were pretty sure that since we were group B, by the time we got to the guys in any group, they’d be beat.

We ran into Amanda and Nina, who had somehow miraculously found room for us in their photo group. One of the girls gave up Joe for Donna, which left Michelle and I to Jon and Danny (but we were both pretty much okay with whomever). We sat at the bar near the end of the line, deciding to be last. After a drink or two, a little relaxation, and some nice conversation, a Rose Tours employee started barking that if we didn’t get in line we wouldn’t get our photo op. (Who knows if that would have actually turned out to be true…we obeyed and got in a line.) We stood in a line that was moving at a decent pace for the next hour, working our way from the casino into the room where the guys were all standing, and already obviously exhausted, having been meeting fans and smiling for pictures for hours on end (and the line was still out the door behind us). Girls who’d made it through before us had been so excited to report that they got hugs and conversation with all five guys, but there wasn’t a chance for any of that at this point in the day. Some of the guys were stretching, others barefoot, all clearly already wiped out. I asked Jeannie from Rose Tours why they schedule all the photos for the same day; we were told that that is all handled by NKOTB’s management. (What the…? Wouldn’t it make more sense to break it up & do a few hours each night? If I ruled the world…) Read more »

Prior to waking up on Saturday morning, two things happened: we debated at some length about whether or not we even had a ton of interest in getting off the boat and seeing Nassau (without making a final decision), and we forgot to make decisions on our room service breakfast for the following day. Because I made it back to the room before Michelle & Donna, I hastily scribbled a few choices down on the room service list, stuck it on the door before 5 am, and forgot all about it. (By the time they came back 10-15 minutes later, it was gone, but they were both just happy to have anything in the morning that was ready to go, so yay!) Read more »

Before I make a big statement, a little qualification: I’m not married, and I don’t have children. So when I say that from start to finish, day 2 of the cruise was quite possibly one of the most perfect days of my life, please believe me.

Before crashing the previous night, I’d managed to get the girls to tell me what they wanted for breakfast and put the request thing on the door, so we woke up to a little room service: fruit, coffee, and toast. It wasn’t much, but we were happy to have it and we didn’t have to make it (and better still, it was free)! We put on our swimsuits and coverups and made our way to Deck 0 to get on a tender (a smaller boat that would carry us to the private island of Half Moon Cay, because the Destiny would stay anchored a bit of a distance from the shore instead of docking at an actual port). From the tender, you can see how unbelievable the color of the water is: it looks like it does in the movies! It’s light turquoise, and surreal. Read more »

If you’re interested in anything that happened prior to getting on the boat, check out Travels with Toaster for the rest of the travel deets. I’m keeping this fairly NK-specific so that I can have something to post on each site. 🙂

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As soon as we boarded the ship, NKOTB was standing there, waiting to greet us!
…sort of. Michelle & I both thought the picture was better of the cardboard cutout alone than of either/both of us with it, but…we were greeted by the guys! Read more »

Alright, friends, I have a question for you. First, let me say this: I’m not asking you to just shout out the first things that come to mind. I want you to roll this question around in your brain for a day or two (longer, if necessary). If you need to, come back and reread this a second time after you’ve digested it, and then give me your answer. When you read my question, you might be surprised by its simplicity and think I’m a tad dramatic, but that’s ok. I want really great, sincere answers and I hope you won’t let me down. Read more »